What a day we had Sunday! It was great.
First a quick set list, then some more indepth notes for those who care.
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Orchestral Prelude: Only Trust Him (Hymn Arrangement)
Announcements
*Here I Am To Worship (Tim Hughes)
*He Is Exalted (Twila Paris / Shane & Shane version)
*My Life Is In You, Lord (Daniel Gardner)
Welcome / Fellowship
*Standing On The Promises (Hymn Arrangement, hoe-down style)
Testimony: “I Am Thankful For…” Debbie Marshall
*Worthy Is The Lamb (Darlene Zschech)
Offertory Prayer: Deacon
*Choir Special: I Can Only Imagine (Mercy Me / from the musical Evidence Of Grace)
*Transitional Chorus: Thank You Lord (Seth Sykes)
Message: Bro. Steve
*Invitation: Change My Heart, Oh God (Hymn Arrangement)
*Closing Chorus: How Great Thou Art (Hymn arrangement)
Now the more in depth look:
Sunday began with announcements as usual. One of the announcements I had to make was reminding everyone of the “reach-out” event we have coming upon Nov 9th. The entire church is encouraged to have lunch together then go out and knock on every door in a specific community to come worship with us. This really isn’t an original idea, but it’s something we haven’t done in years, if ever. For at least 3 years the only organized outreach we’ve had has been a dedicated group of senior adults who gather each Tuesday evening to go out and visit those who visited our church Sunday. I have to say I am so thankful for this dedicated group. They are willing to do what so many of us, (myself included) say we don’t have time for. This special event hopefully will encourage everyone to get more involved in outreach, to be more aware of opportunities that present themselves to invite someone to church or even better, tell someone about Jesus Christ.
Sunday, I stopped making planned announcements for a few minutes and was just “for reals” for a few minutes. Kristi (my lovely wife) says I think through things to much, and she may be right. Typically anything I say from the stage has been carefully thought out. Sunday I just went “off the cuff” and shared that I hoped everyone would come and we could give a personal invitation to everyone who lived in the area we’re reaching out to next weekend. I really think if we would be more concerned about what goes on outside of our church building we’d see a change in the people and the amount of people inside our building. As I said Sunday ..”Nothing changes if nothing changes.”. This time of sharing from the heart just sort of opened my heart to what God was saying to me that day. I worshipped in a way Sunday that I haven’t in a long time. I’m talking about: eyes closed, hands raised, heart open, everyone else melts away, it’s just me and God…worship. I might not have been a great worship leader Sunday for our church family, because I wasn’t paying attention to them, but I know I had an encounter with my Father when I worshipped Him Sunday. Praise God.
From the set list above here are just a few notes..
“My Life is In You”… I decided to include this simply because it was a vertical, celebration song and I thought we needed something a little more upbeat in the first set. Turns out, I should have left it off. Musically it was fine, but the transition from the mellow version of “He is Exalted” into this was a little rocky. Plus, while the lyrics themselves are great, I flashback to a commercial for a “time life” worship CD I saw once. Everyone else must too, because no one else seemed to get much out of it. It was filler. Filler has to go.
“Standing On The Promises”.. our church is made up of 50% Senior adults. When we do these older hymns with a southern (or Pentecostal) kick everyone seems to enjoy it. The lyrics are biblically sound, and the music makes you smile. What a great combo. Great celebration “By the living word of God I shall prevail.” Good stuff.
“Worthy Is The Lamb” Great song that is losing it’s effectiveness with our folks. The first 4 or 5 times we did this song in the past it seemed to really resonate with everyone. Not so much now. Might be time to retire it for a while. Hmmm?
Choir Song: “I Can Only Imagine” – honestly I chose this song because it was one our choir knew well and we could pull it off without much practice on it. (We’re in the middle of working on a Christmas musical so some shortcuts are taken where possible.) We did the version from the musical “Evidence Of Grace”. It has the solo that everyone knows with the choir backup like an angelic chorus singing “Hallelujah, Praise the Great I AM.” I like this version of this song, but honestly, I’m kind of over it. You know, tired of this song and ready for it to be put to rest… or at least I thought I was. As I sang the solo on this song I felt an overwhelming desire to put my words into action. Without any thought, as I sang “or to my knees will I fall.” I did just that. I was bowing on the floor. From that point to the end of the song was a blur. I just closed my eyes, sang, and thanked God for the relationship He’s allowed me to have with Him. I’m so thankful that God, the creator of all things, loves me enough that He does so much for me and allows me to do some stuff for him.
That evening, a few people approached me and said they could tell there was a point when I stopped singing and started worshiping. They said they were led to worship by my actions. I’m humbled by that. I’m not sure exactly how, but I think God may be pushing our worship, or at least mine, to another level. I can’t wait to see what’s in store.
This blog is part of the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival hosted at FredMcKinnon.Com. Check it out here.
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